Nov. 15, 1999

at No. 15/No. 14 USC - Nov. 19, 1999 - Los Angeles, CA/North Gym

Having clinched UCLA's best Pac-10 record since the 1994 squad finished 16-2, the Bruins now have their sights set on the team's first Pac-10 title since the 1993 team went undefeated in conference play. A win Friday at cross-town rival USC will guarantee that the Bruins finish no worse than co-champions with Stanford.

The UCLA-USC series stands 47-35 in the Bruins favor, and UCLA holds a 16-11 advantage when playing at USC, and a 26-22 advantage away from home, a mark that includes 21 neutral-site matches. Friday's tangle is scheduled for 6 p.m. at USC's North Gym.

This Week's Schedule - November 15-21

The Bruins play their final Pac-10 Conference match of the 1999 season this Friday, as they travel to cross-town rival USC for a 6 p.m. matchup with the Women of Troy. The match will be available on broadcast.com with Lou Riggs and Michael Sondheimer calling the action.

Fri. Nov. 19  at USC (#15/14)  Los Angeles, CA  6:00 p.m. PT

UCLA Quick Facts

1999 Overall Record:    24-2
1999 Pac-10 Record:     16-1
Ranking:                 6th, AVCA/USA Today
                         6th, Volleyball Magazine
Head Coach:              Andy Banachowski
Career Record:        869-202 (33rd season)
Website:                 www.uclabruins.com

UCLA Clinches Best Pac-10 Record Since 1994 With Sweep
Victories against the two Oregon schools last weekend brought UCLA's Pac-10 record to 16-1 on the season, guaranteeing the school's best conference record since the 1994 NCAA runner-up team finished 16-2 in the Pac-10. The week started off with a quick victory over Oregon, 15-0, 15-4, 15-2. The Ducks hit just -.081 in the match, to the Bruins' .556. Had UCLA's hitting percentage been just .001 higher, it would have tied the fifth-best mark in Pac-10 history.

The following night was senior night, and senior OH Lyn Embree took advantage of the occasion. Playing for the first time since tearing her achiles tendon last spring, Embree started the match and posted 10 kills, four digs and two block assists in two games on the floor. Sophomore Kristee Porter led all players with 16 kills, while three Bruins, Ashley Bowles, Michelle Quon and Erika Selsor, finished with double-figure digs at 14, 11 and 10, respectively. Head Coach Andy Banachowski

In his 33rd season on the Bruin bench, UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski remains one of the top coaches in his profession. On Oct. 24, 1997, he was the first women's volleyball coach to be inducted into the National Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, MA, and was the first women's coach in history to record 800 career wins (869-202, 33rd year). The only other collegiate volleyball coach, men's or women's, with more career wins than Banachowski is UCLA men's coach Al Scates, who notched career victory number 900 during the 1997 season. Banachowski played under Scates at UCLA and also got his start in coaching with Scates. Under Banachowski's leadership, the Bruins have won six national championships, including three NCAA titles. Career Updates

Many Bruins are busy moving up on the school's career lists this season. Kristee Porter became the second-fastest person in NCAA history and 16th Bruin to record 1,000 career kills, doing so in her 50th career match. Her 1,058 kills (as of 11/15) is 15th in Bruin history and is third among the Pac-10's active players. Junior middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman is now ranked in all three career block categories with 79 block solos (6th), 418 total blocks (7th) and 339 block assists (7th). Among active Pac-10 players, she ranks second behind Stanford's Kerri Walsh (454 TB). With 2,687 career assists, sophomore setter Erika Selsor ranks second on the Pac-10 list of active setters, and fifth in Bruin history.

Pac-10 Title Tiebreakers
UCLA is still in a position to capture its first Pac-10 title since 1993, despite the team's loss at Stanford. Should the Bruins and Cardinal both finish at 17-1, co-champions will be declared, and Pac-10 tiebreakers will be utilized only to decide which team receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Tiebreakers for the automatic berth are as follows, with the Stanford-UCLA implications in parentheses: 1) head-to-head competition in the conference (tied), 2) most games won head-to-head in conference matches (tied), 3) team with highest for-against ratio of points in head-to-head competition (Stanford leads 89-86).

Bruins Lead Four Pac-10 Individual Statistical Categories
Four Bruins have accumulated season totals that are Pac-10 bests. Bachman is just shy of holding two of the conference's top spots, leading the way in hitting percentage (.422) and just .01 out of first in blocks (1.35 per game). Two other Bruins, Tamika Johnson (.398) and Kristee Porter (.304) rank second and eighth in hitting percentage, respectively. Among conference setters, UCLA's Erika Selsor is the best, averaging 13.57 assists/game. It should be no surprise that Kristee Porter leads the conference in kills per game with a 5.22 average. She is the only player in the conference averaging over 5.00 kills/game. As a team, the Bruins are tops in assists (115.72/gm), kills (17.24/gm), and won-lost percentage (.941 Pac-10, .923 overall). Opposing Hitting Percentage Bottoms Out

Since the team's first weekend of play, UCLA has held 21 opponents to a team hitting percentage under .200, and are responsible for three of the Pac-10's top-five hitting percentages this season. Three times, against Idaho State at the Pioneer Classic , on Oct. 1 at Washington State, and last Thursday against Oregon, opposing teams have finished the match with a negative team hitting percentage. In all, the Bruins have held 22 of 26 opponents (including the opponents in 15 of 17 Pac-10 matches) under .200, and 12 teams have been held under .100. Five teams have hit .200 against the Bruins: Minnesota (.237), Hawaii (.240) and Arizona (.220 on Oct. 22), while Stanford (11/5) is the only team to hit over .300, posting a mark of .340 in the Cardinal's Nov. 5 victory.

Setting Everyone Up
Sophomore setter Erika Selsor started the 1999 season ranked eighth in Bruin history with 1,506 career assists. Since then, she has added 1,138 to her total and currently ranks fifth on UCLA's all-time career list with 2,687 to her credit. With 72 assists at Arizona on Oct. 22, Selsor set a new UCLA standard with her seventh career match with 70 assists or more, breaking the previous record held by Ann Boyer (1985-88) and her predecessor, Kim Coleman (1994-97). Bowles Playing Double Role

Sophomore Ashley Bowles has spent much of the season at opposite hitter, and has set for the Bruins at the end of numerous matches. Her setting experience paid off for the Bruins in the key match on Oct. 22 at Arizona. With regular setter Erika Selsor in the front row in game five, Banachowski was able to replace Selsor with middle blocker Angela Eckmier, giving UCLA a better blocking weapon in the front row. Bowles was the only setter on the floor for seven rallies in game five, and finished the match with eight assists.

Five-Game Match Notes
There are several similarities between UCLA's five game victories over Minnesota (Sept. 5) and Arizona (Oct. 22). The most interesting coincidence is probably that the Bruins faced a match point in both matches at 14-10. On Sept. 5, the key moment was in game three, when the Gophers had apparently won the match before an overturned call gave UCLA new life. They eventually won game three 16-14, and posted victories in games four and five to win the match. On Friday at Arizona, the Bruins were again down 14-10, facing match point to the Wildcats. Arizona served for the match three times before UCLA rallied to a 16-14 game four win, eventually winning the fifth and deciding game, 15-13.

Porter Points
Kristee Porter has 449 kills through 26 matches, 161 more than the next closest Bruin (Ashley Bowles) ... Porter's 36 kills at Arizona is the top total by a Pac-10 player this season ... She has two 30-kill matches this season (tops in Pac-10) and six for her career, tying Natalie Williams and Liz Masakayan for the career lead in that category ... She is also ranked 12th in the most recent available NCAA statistics (11/7) with a 5.30 kills per game average ... Despite being only a sophomore, Porter ranks third on the Pac-10's list of active career kill leaders (1,058 kills), behind Stanford senior Kerri Walsh (1,462) and Washington senior Kristina Laffling (1,233).

Missing Match?
Yes, the Bruins did play one less match than originally scheduled at the Kent Invitational. Due to the remnants of Hurricane Floyd, UCLA's Friday evening opponent, Seton Hall, was unable to leave South Orange, N.J., and was forced to cancel its trip to Northeast Ohio. Kent and Cincinnati made up for the lost match by facing off twice in tourney play, once in the originally-scheduled match on Friday (a 3-1 Cincinnati victory) and an additional match on Saturday (3-0 Cincinnati).

Roster Update
UCLA sophomore reserve setter Jackie Levin has left the team for personal reasons. She had not seen any game action for the Bruins in her two years on the team.

Notables
With a 16-1 Pac-10 record, UCLA is assured of its best Pac-10 record since the 1994 season, when the Bruins lost in the NCAA Championship match to Stanford. ... Setter Erika Selsor and Porter are tied for the team lead in service aces with 22, just one ahead of Ashley Bowles ... Only three Bruins have played in every game of the season: Selsor and defensive specialists Michelle Quon and Stacy Millichap ... Quon is the only current Bruin with 600 or more career digs, ranking seventh among active Pac-10 players with 697 ... Either Bachman or Bowles will be the next Bruin to reach 1,000 kills. Both rank among Pac-10 top active players with 813 (7th) and 779 kills (10th), respectively ... UCLA is averaging just under five kills/game more than their opponents (17.2-12.3) and are out-blocking (2-8-2.0) and out-digging (15.1-12.9) their opponents on average.